The baby panda twins locally born to papa “Hoi Hoi” and mummy “Sam Sam” (“Hoi Sam” meaning happiness in Chinese) have officially been named “Kin Kin” and “Hong Hong”, which means “healthy” when combined as “Kin Hong” in Chinese.
The names were chosen by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) from a total of 1,718 pairs of names that local residents had proposed to the bureau during a panda naming campaign, according to a statement from the bureau on Saturday.
Hoi Hoi, Sam Sam, Kin Kin and Hong Hong are the local pandas’ names pronounced in the Cantonese dialect, the mother tongue of most locals.
Most locals refer to the twins’ names in Cantonese, but the bureau’s statements in English and Portuguese referred to the cubs’ names in Putonghua – Jian Jian and Kang Kang.
Hoi Hoi and Sam Sam are known as Kai Kai and Xin Xin in Putonghua.
The statement said the bureau picked Kin Kin and Hong Hong as the names represent the public’s blessings and love for the male cubs that were born on June 26 in the panda pavilion in Seac Pai Van Park – the first-ever pandas born in Macau.
Besides, they were not just born but also naturally conceived locally.
According to the statement, the bureau received a total of 3,587 proposals with 1,718 different pairs of names. A total of 1,117 proposed Kin Kin and Hong Hong, which was 4.3 times the pair of names which came in second place, the bureau said. The statement did not reveal the pair of names which came second.
The statement added some residents had explained in their proposals they wished Kin Kin and Hong Hong healthy growth and all local residents good health and happy lives.
The statement said that Kin Kin and Hong Hong were in “good physical condition”.
“At the ages of 83 days [on Saturday], they weigh 4,115 grammes and 3,335 grammes respectively. They have changed completely into the black-and-white suits as members of the giant panda family,” the statement said.
At birth, Kin Kin weighed 135 grammes, while Hong Hong was severely underweight at only 53.8 grammes.
The twins’ parents are a gift from the central government to Macau.(Macau News / The Macau News Daily)
